I Think I'm Paranoid
by Kaleidoscope.e
Summary: "Years passed in the underworld and soon, the memory became nothing but a broken whisper, a song sung to brighten the mood, a passing gust of magic." 10 songs/10 ficlet challenge. S/J centric.


**It's 10 songs, 10 ficlets time!**

Instructions: Put your music player on shuffle and begin. For each song, write a small drabble. You may only write for as long as the song plays, however you may later make minor edits. Do not pre-decide the plots or the songs and let the creativity fly!

Pairing of the session: Sarah/Jareth! I grew up with this movie, yet this is the first time that I've written these characters. I have tried my best to do them justice, I only hope it will be enough to please the Labyrinth fans. Critique is always welcome.

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**1 I think I'm paranoid – Garbage**

I was very aware of the owl sitting on the branch outside my window, watching my movements with a patience that did not suit him. Occasionally, a soft hoot could be heard along with the scribbling of my pencil across the paper. Seven years had passed since I had first entered the labyrinth and since I had triumphed over the Goblin King. Yet, despite the time that had passed, his presence had never ceased.

I still dreamt of him. I both hated and loved it but no matter my feelings on the subject, the dreams would not stop. I could practically hear the dream whispers now as I thought them over: "Love me. Break me. Anyway you need me. All I need is you."

Lies. The great, arrogant Goblin King needed no one. Another hoot came from the owl and with a huff, I stood from my desk, walking toward the window. The look of sadness conveyed in the bright blue eyes surprised me and I faltered for a moment, simply watching the creature. How strange one would think, to see an owl with bright blue eyes, night after night, not moving and displaying such loyal determination. It wasn't right. Jareth was egotistical, selfish, cruel and, dare I admit it, frightening, not patient and certainly not loyal. Yet there he was, perched in the very same spot that I would find him tomorrow.

I almost felt guilt as I closed the curtains with a swoosh.

**2 Never met a girl like you before – Iggy Pop**

Jareth was used to getting what he wanted. It was his kingdom, his reign, his rules, his way. So when a young girl named Sarah Williams wished away her brother and entered his Labyrinth, he wasn't sure what to make of it. The girl possessed just as much confidence as he as well as a determination that he rarely saw in his Labyrinth runners.

He watched as she passed trial after trial, sometimes allowing her anger to get the better of her. He was just as much amused as annoyed when she looked at him with haughty eyes and stated, of his labyrinth "It's a piece of cake." Her insolence was astounding.

And yet it caught his interest.

He found himself beginning to hope that she would win, hope that she would become the first to conquer his labyrinth, the first to conquer him. These thoughts troubled him greatly, but as the thirteen hours wore on and the moment of their meeting grew closer and closer, he was sure of one thing: He had never met a girl like her before and if he had his way, it wouldn't be the last time they met.

**3 Mystère – Cirque Du Soleil (This one was tricky, hence the shortness of it.)**

The city streets were silent, but it was a tense silence. The silence of anticipation. Goblins watched from their houses, not daring to come out, their fear of the angry king winning over their curiosity of this reappearance. It had been ten years since the victor of the Labyrinth had walked through the city. Ten years since she had battled her way through the Labyrinth, passed the Goblin City and then confronted the king. Yet, as the dark haired figure continued toward the castle where the moody king waited, the goblins couldn't help but feel hope. Would they finally have a queen?

**4 Kingdom Hearts Menu opening – KH orchestra**

"Tell me again Sarah. Tell me about the Goblins and about the bog and the helping hands and the rocks! I want to hear it all!"

Sarah sat on the edge of her now 8 year old brother's bed, a smile on her mouth.

"Again? Do you never tire of this story?" Despite her teasing, Sarah never missed the chance to recount the story to her brother. She smiled as the boy laughed and gasped in all the right places, even stepping in to take over some of the dialogue for her. He had heard the story enough times to know it by heart.

She wasn't sure what made her retell this story. On one hand, there was Toby's constant demand, but she knew that there was something else. The nagging doubt and uncertainty that had crept into her mind as the years passed. She was no longer the complaining 15 year old she had been, but when presented with such such fantastic delights, you can't help but wonder if it was not simply a figment of an over imaginative mind. A dream that she had stepped into and then left just as abruptly. Whatever the truth, she knew that forgetting would be the biggest insult to her adventures in the Labyrinth and so, she endeavoured to continue telling the story.

"How did he do it?"

"Do what?"

"Climb all over the place. The king could do it and the baby could do it, but she could not. Was the baby magic too?"

Sarah laughed lightly at her brother's questions.

"Well, I know for a fact that the baby would never have been so important to the Goblin King had he not been special. So he might very well have been magic as well."

"But the Goblin king only took him because of the girl. He loved her and wanted to make her happy, right? Right?"

Sarah paused at this question. Had the Goblin King loved the girl or had he just been fulfilling his duty... had his wild ego and arrogance been the reason behind his actions, or some other force, too unknown to comprehend.

"I... I don't know Toby. I don't know."

She wasn't sure she ever would.

**5 The World is Mine – Vocaloid crew.**

Jareth had been quite young when he'd been given his choice of kingdom from the high king. His choice however, had both surprised and annoyed his parents who could not imagine their son and heir to the throne in the high court ruling over the lowest of Underground creatures: The Goblins.

Jareth, on the other hand, did not see it like that.

For him, it was simply the freedom that he wanted. The Goblin kingdom held many advantages for the young King. It was far from the other kingdoms and even if it weren't, so few would want to cross the goblins to visit him. It gave him free reign, in every sense, over his kingdom and his subjects. Furthermore, there was the location of the kingdom itself. So very close to the overground, Jareth was free to come and go as he please, watching over the antics of the mortals with amusement.

However, in the end, none of these reasons mattered. The Goblins were content with their King and he therefore had absolute power. It was what he wanted. Possession. It was his Labyrinth, his Goblin City, His castle. All of it was his to do with it what he pleased and that pleased him very much.

**6 Here in your arms – Hellogoodbye (Here. Have some fluff. ^^)**

"It's taken us a long time to get here."

Sarah's eyes fluttered closed as his fingers traced figure eights on the small of her back. A sigh escaped her lips and the ministrations stopped a moment before continuing, pulling her closer as he did. The dark haired woman pressed her head to his chest as an arm wrapped around her protectively. Had she been told upon her first visit to the Underground that she would one day be in this situation, she would have laughed. And yet, nothing was more right than laying in the arms of this man. The man who had re-arranged time for her, the man who had moved the stars and who had done everything to live up to her expectations.

"It would not have been so long had your stubborn nature not gotten in the way, precious."

She chuckled darkly pulling back and grabbing his chin in one hand.

"I think you forget, oh great Goblin King, that I am not the only stubborn one."

She may no longer be the whining, childish 15 year old, but the very same fire burned in her that had then and it would not so easily be extinguished. He merely gave her a smirk before pulling her toward him and catching her in a kiss. He pulled back after a moment, but only enough to murmur softly, his breath ghosting over her lips.

"I would have it no other way..."

Yes. It had taken them a long time to get there, but she was content in knowing that wherever they went next, they'd go together.

**7 Better than love – Hurt (I'd forgotten how much I love this song. The fic doesn't **_**really**_** go with it unless you squint... but the idea that I was going with was that Sarah's presence is better than love.)**

Hoggle was a very timely sort of Goblin and of this he was proud. So when Sarah would call upon him, he would not waste an instant before going to the side of his friend. However, as the victor of the Labyrinth grew, her summons became fewer and fewer. Hoggle suspected that growing up had a big role to play in this, but he still couldn't help the sadness that overcame him as this fact became more and more apparent.

However, he knew that this sadness was not exclusive to him. He shared his burden with Ludo, with sir Didymus and even that rat Jareth. Yes, the Goblin King had become rather moody - well that is, more than what he'd already been - since the departure of the young miss.

Still, life went on as it had to. They continued to receive runners, though not one could beat the Labyrinth, and Hoggle went back to his job spraying fairies at the entrance of the great maze.

And time went on. Occasionally, he would go visit Sir Didymus or the castle when summoned (not that he enjoyed his forced visits to the castle) and time went on.

Time went on for so long that the adventures of the Labyrinth and it's victor became nothing but a memory for the Goblins. Yet some still hoped that miss Sarah would return and take her rightful place as queen of their land. She was pretty, that miss Sarah, and not afraid to stand up to their angry king.

But time went on.

Years passed in the underworld and soon, the memory became nothing but a broken whisper, a song sung to brighten the mood, a passing gust of magic. Some days, you could feel the wind of hope around the kingdom only to have it disappear the next day. It was on one of these days that Hoggle heard the voice call him.

"Hoggle?"

He turned, eyes wide in shock, amazement and delight.

Their queen was back.

**8 The Magic Position – Patrick Wolf (Okay, I cheated on this one. I listened to it twice, but I was really into it so I went with it.)**

The room spun around her in all the right ways. Her roommate Claire, a blond girl about the same age as her, giggled as she helped Sarah on her feet.

"You, my dear, have had much too much to drink."

Sarah merely chuckled some more and shook her head.

"I'm fine."

Claire gave her a shrug "Alright, but some fresh air might still do you some good."

Sarah finally ended up agreeing and an instant later, found herself standing against the brick wall of the balcony. The party inside went on quite loudly, but only the pleasant thumping of the music beat escaped through the doors. She sighed as she closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall. It was only on nights like these that her mind would allow her to think back to her time in the underground and back to her friends there. Guilt pooled in her gut as she thought to the last time she had seen them. She had tried hadn't she? Holding off growing up as long as she could. Her parents had even worried that she'd developed some kind of Peter Pan complex.

No, the toys and books had long since been put away. The world still coloured her dreams however. Particularly the face of one Fae Goblin King... The Goblin King who had offered her everything in exchange for her devotion and her love... The question hung in the air like a smoky haze. Had she been wrong to decline?

Regardless. It was too late for regrets.

"You need but call me, precious, and I will be there. You know how it works."

Even in her haze, she still managed to snap her head forward quick enough to catch the glitter that lingered in the air.

"Jareth..?"

She shook it off. It was the alcohol overworking her imagination. He hadn't visited her in years and there was no reason that he would start now. She shook her head, as though trying to shake the thoughts out and stopped only after the notion began to make her ill. She settled her head back against the wall, looking up into the clear night sky and couldn't help but feel that something was off. Something was different, not where it should be.

"The stars..." She muttered to no one in particular. "They're..."

_We're choosing the path between the stars  
I'll leave my love between the stars _

That was it. She was officially putting herself on an alcohol ban.

**9 One week – Barenaked ladies.**

The one thing about having a king and queen with such tempers was that, while they seemed to care quite deeply for one another, their tempers often clashed. And when that happened, it was best to be as far away as possible. In the city was good, on the outskirts of the Labyrinth was better.

In the overground was best.

This particular fight was, according to some of the Goblins, the silliest yet. The queen had been preparing to visit the baby-no-more Toby when the king had insisted that he go with her. She had refused, saying something about how the last time they had gone, Jareth had left her childhood home full of glitter and had allowed her parents think she had run away with gypsies, was pregnant and crazy.

The king had seemed affronted to be called a gypsy "I am no vagabond and I would warn you to make such accusations, Queen of mine."

"You know, I've always thought a tambourine would be a fantastic addition to that mad getup of yours."

(No one understood this argument, for it was well known that the queen had admitted to loving the dress style of her husband.)

"'Mad Getup?' Really, you try my patience Sarah. I will accompany you to the overground and that is that. Though since your parents already believe you to be pregnant-"

It had continued as such and before anyone knew what was what, it had escalated into the two refusing to speak. Perpetual children they were. However, never had the Goblin kingdom known better rulers and they knew that within the week, one would give in (usually Jareth) and apologize.

**10 Collect Call – Metric.**

I don't believe that I asked for much.

No, I know that I didn't ask for much. It was simple enough really. _Love me. Fear me. Do as I say and I will be your slave._ It had been a more than generous offer and yet, she turned it down as quickly as I offered.

Rejection... now there is a first. The Goblin King rejected. I can feel my stomach clench in anger as I think this thought over. Sarah Williams was nothing more than a mortal and yet there I had been, offering her her dreams like a desperate trader. I hadn't wanted much in exchange and yet, she had so much to gain. So logically, what does she do? Throw it back in my face.

And it stung.

Much as I don't want to admit it, it stung. That little harpy and her... arrogant belief that she could simply wish away her brother, enter my Labyrinth, my world really, and exit as quickly as she came. Does she not realize what she could have had?

What she can have.

Damn it! I don't want this! To wait with idle patience to see if she will summon me with the power I gave her. I am not and have never been a patient person and the idea of sitting around waiting does not please me at all. As the victor of my labyrinth, she should take her rightful place as my Queen. Instead, she resides in the overground, continuing down a path away from my own. The anger that I feel has yet to disappear, however this does not change the reality of the situation. Should she summon me, I know that I will go to her, for my desire for vengeance coincides with my desire for something else entirely. Something much more precious and much more important.

My desire for her.

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AN: And that's a wrap. Ironically enough, after I finished song number ten, David Bowie's version of Nature boy from Moulin Rouge started playing on my itunes. I chuckled a little. Critiques, Reviews and thoughts are always welcome. =]


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